2 Kings 1:4
in 2 Kings 1Therefore this is what the LORD says: ‘You will not get up from the bed on which you are lying. You will surely die.’” So Elijah departed.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Now therefore thus saith Jehovah, Thou shalt not come down from the bed whither thou art gone up, but shalt surely die. And Elijah departed.
KJV
Now therefore thus saith the Lord, Thou shalt not come down from that bed on which thou art gone up, but shalt surely die. And Elijah departed.
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This verse in 2 Kings 1
Commentary
8 notes on this verseBut shalt surely die - The true God tells you this; he in whose hands are both life and death, who can kill and make alive. Baal-zebub can do nothing; God has determined that your master shall die.
This site's exposition
there is not a God in Israel
on 2 Kings 1:3-4
The angel meets Elijah before the messengers ever reach Ekron and hands him a question rather than an order, whether there is no God in Israel that the king must send abroad to a foreign idol. The same question falls two more times before the chapter closes, once repeated by the returning messengers and once delivered by Elijah in person, so the reader hears it three separate times. Elijah does not chase the men down to argue the point. He meets them, speaks the sentence, and departs, and that one sentence becomes the king's death warrant.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
"Ahaziah falls from the gallery of his upper chamber in Samaria." … Ahaziah is the son of Ahab, and after Ahab's death he takes his place and reigns over his people. Now, he falls from the upper chambers of his palace, and his body is …
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
Now therefore thus saith the Lord,.... Jehovah, the only true God: thou shalt not come down from that bed on which thou art gone up, but shall surely die; this sickness should be unto death, and the bed he had betaken himself to should be his deathbed.
"Since he is so anxious to know his fate, this is it; let him make the best of it." The certain fearful looking for of judgment and indignation which this message must needs cause cannot but cut him to the heart. The message being delivered to him by his servants, he enquires of them by whom it was sent to him, and concludes, by their description of him, that it must be Elijah,
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
This latter supposition is most probably the true one, as Ahaziah did not fall either into the street or the court, but "in his upper chamber." inquire of Baalzebub--Anxious to learn whether he should recover from the effects of this severe fall, he sent to consult Baalzebub, that is, the god of flies, who was considered the patron deity of medicine.
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
Thou shalt not come down from that bed--On being taken up, he had probably been laid on the divan--a raised frame, about three feet broad, extended along the sides of a room, covered with cushions and mattresses--serving, in short, as a sofa by day and a bed by night, and ascended by steps. Elijah departed--to his ordinary abode, which was then at Mount Carmel (2Ki 2:25;
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens
1 more voice on this verse
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
Therefore ... - As a punishment for this insult to Yahweh.
The words behind it
16 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וְלָכֵן֙ | velakhen | and <to> therefore | H3651 → | 771 times |
| כֹּֽה־ | koh- | thus | H3541 → | 577 times |
| אָמַ֣ר | ʾamar | he says | H559 → | 5305 times |
| יְהוָ֔ה | yahweh | Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| הַמִּטָּ֞ה | hamitah | the bed | H4296 → | 29 times |
| אֲשֶׁר־ | ʾasher- | where | H834 → | 5497 times |
| עָלִ֥יתָ | ʾalita | you have gone up | H5927 → | 890 times |
| שָּׁ֛ם | sham | there | H8033 → | 834 times |
| לֹֽא־ | lo'- | not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| תֵרֵ֥ד | tered | you will come down | H3381 → | 381 times |
| מִמֶּ֖נָּה | mimenah | from it | H4480 → | 1188 times |
| כִּ֣י | ki | for | H3588 → | 4482 times |
| מ֣וֹת | mot | certainly <to die> | H4191 → | 839 times |
| תָּמ֑וּת | tamut | you will die | H4191 → | 839 times |
| וַיֵּ֖לֶךְ | vaiyelekh | and he went | H1980 → | 1546 times |
| אֵלִיָּֽה׃ | ʾeliyah | Elijah | H452 → | 71 times |
וְלָכֵן֙and <to> therefore
velakhenH3651 →771 times
כֹּֽה־thus
koh-H3541 →577 times
אָמַ֣רhe says
ʾamarH559 →5305 times
יְהוָ֔הYahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 times
הַמִּטָּ֞הthe bed
hamitahH4296 →29 times
אֲשֶׁר־where
ʾasher-H834 →5497 times
עָלִ֥יתָyou have gone up
ʾalitaH5927 →890 times
שָּׁ֛םthere
shamH8033 →834 times
לֹֽא־not
lo'-H3808 →5168 times
תֵרֵ֥דyou will come down
teredH3381 →381 times
מִמֶּ֖נָּהfrom it
mimenahH4480 →1188 times
כִּ֣יfor
kiH3588 →4482 times
מ֣וֹתcertainly <to die>
motH4191 →839 times
תָּמ֑וּתyou will die
tamutH4191 →839 times
וַיֵּ֖לֶךְand he went
vaiyelekhH1980 →1546 times
אֵלִיָּֽה׃Elijah
ʾeliyahH452 →71 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Genesis 2:17but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil; for in the day that you eat of it, you will surely die.”
it leads to
- Romans 6:23
For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- James 1:15
Then after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death.
- Genesis 3:19
By the sweat of your brow you will eat your bread, until you return to the ground—because out of it were you taken. For dust you are, and to dust you shall return.”
- 1 Corinthians 15:56
The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law.
- Revelation 21:8
But to the cowardly and unbelieving and abominable and murderers and sexually immoral and sorcerers and idolaters and all liars, their place will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur. This…
- Romans 6:23
Through
Ezekiel 18:4Behold, every soul belongs to Me; both father and son are Mine. The soul who sins is the one who will die.
it leads to
- Ezekiel 18:20
The soul who sins is the one who will die. A son will not bear the iniquity of his father, and a father will not bear the iniquity of his son. The righteousness of…
- Numbers 16:22
But Moses and Aaron fell facedown and said, “O God, the God of the spirits of all flesh, when one man sins, will You be angry with the whole congregation?”
- Ezekiel 18:20
Through
Genesis 3:4“You will not surely die,” the serpent told her.
it leads to
- John 8:44
You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out his desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, refusing to uphold the truth, because there is no truth in him.…
- John 8:44
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies2
On this verse
On this chapter
About 2 Kings
Who and where
1 name in this verse with a page on the site.
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Ephrem the Syrian, ON THE SECOND BOOK OF KINGS 1:1; Jamieson Fausset and Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); Keil, The Books of the Kings and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.